New World New

Tim McNally

Sara Essex Bradley Photograph

The European nationalities that settled New Orleans brought with them their love of spirits and wines. Certainly the Spanish, French and Italians embraced not only their new New World home, but they also gave us, alongside the Caribbean and African population, drinks we still savor today.

Spirits, in particular, were indigenous to the old homeland, and finding or creating substitutes in this foreign land was a difficult task. When it came to distillation, we were dependant on the boys from Scotland, many of who settled to our north in Kentucky. But not far away from that storied land (Scotland, not Kentucky) was Ireland, which also had a way with whiskey. Oh, yes, and beer.

The Irish came here to do the hard work of building infrastructure, like canals, and had little time to create cocktails or spirits. Irish whiskey was a luxury. Kieran Folliard, a good son of Erin but with a firm stance in America, decided to develop an Irish Whiskey that lent itself to refreshing and cool cocktails. He did so, naming the new product in honor of two redheaded firebrands: his mother and his aunt. Created with the New World in Mind, 2 Gingers is maltier and sweeter than traditional Irish whiskey. The motto on the bottle is “Bring Your Own Luck.” Sounds like a great idea.